2022 Glazer Institute Explores Individual and Societal Transformation
Each year, Temple Beth El, Bloomfield Hills, hosts the Glazer Institute as an interfaith forum to build relationships, learn from one another, and take vital steps toward creating a stronger community across Metro Detroit. The institute was created by Rabbi B. Benedict Glazer, who was the congregation’s rabbi during the 1940s when he established a reputation in the field of human relations and fought actively against discrimination.
As Rabbi Mark Miller, Temple Beth El’s senior rabbi explains, “In 1943 Rabbi Glazer held a small meeting of clergy because he wanted to reach out to those of other faiths during those dark times. The meetings continued after the war and expanded to include Catholic, Protestant and Muslim clergy. It has grown from a program for clergy to be an event for lay individuals as well.”
This year’s featured speaker-- Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz-- (above right) is president and dean of Valley Beit Midrash (a national Jewish pluralistic adult learning and leadership center) and has founded and led Jewish organizations fostering social justice, animal advocacy, and a Jewish foster and adoption network.
Rabbi Dr. Yanklowitz will discuss “how faith affects us out in the world. He is a powerful bridge within the Jewish community and the interfaith community. He will explore the differences between self-transformation and transforming society,” Rabbi Miller says.
The Glazer program is available virtually and in-person (with COVID precautions) at Temple Beth El on Thursday, January 27. It is free and open to all. The InterFaith Leadership Council is a co-sponsor of this program. For more information visit:
https://files.constantcontact.com/cc15d2e5001/4f36471b-3ebe-49ca-b17d-9d17332b7f44.pdf
Faith Leaders Share Perspectives on Fundamental Values
The InterFaith Leadership Council is creating a series of brief videos in which interfaith leaders share their perspective on the importance of sharing and reinforcing community values. Raman Singh shares her views at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sokIy4lLmyk
Pope Francis, in his 2021 Christmas message, included a plea for constructive dialogue to resolve conflict, among his other pastoral themes. It is a time in which “there is a growing tendency to withdraw, to do it all by ourselves, to stop making an effort to encounter others and do things together.” Though the Roman Catholic pope was addressing the message to his followers, it has relevance to all people of faith.
In his appeal, Pope Francis called for “dialogue, mutual respect and recognition of the rights and cultural values of every human being, the values of solidarity, reconciliation and peaceful coexistence.” His message comes as the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit spreads a similar message--that “a strong civil society depends upon people with common social values who trust one another and work cooperatively. Respect, understanding, mutuality, compassion, ethics, anti-bigotry, and environmental stewardship are some of those necessary values.”
